Do you think the Ender's Game book could be broken down into two or three movies to be able to fit all the themes, characters, and subplots?
Secondly....
What about starting out with some short films based off the short story material like "Polish Boy" or something from the Intergalactic Medicine Show. Are the rights of those stories tied up right now too?
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For a theatrical release, an Enders Game movie should be concise, a one-shot deal. Yes, that'll mean trimming a lot down to get to the core theme: these kids, smart as they are, are still kids playing a game the adults make them play, where indifference and cruelty are allowed and encouraged. Ender, in various stages, comes to understand the games, and decides not to play. Or when he has to, to rewrite the rules.
This'll be a hard movie to market when the protagonist kills two boys with his bare hands and digs through the eye socket of a giant and, you know, does that thing at the end. OSC, God bless him, won't go with a sanitized version (I hope). So this'll be no kids movie. Will grown ups want to see genius angst-ridden 12 year olds beating each other up in zero G? God I hope so.
Course, they did like Pan's Labyrinth, so who knows?
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Interesting...I just saw Pan's Labrynth last weekend, and I loved it. It made consider Guillermo del Toro as my top choice for directing the movie. I like his style, and the fact he doesn't overdue the violence in Pan. Yes, the violence is disturbing, but it is necessary for the story and character development.
quote:Originally posted by Sacrip: ...and digs through the eye socket of a giant and, you know, does that thing at the end.
I wouldn't be at all surprised if this part of the book was completely cut from the movie. It isn't necessary for the overall plot, and film offers other ways of achieving the same things the game did. Especially since we've already been told that his siblings will be much less of a factor in the movie than they were in the book.
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The movie I REALLY want to see is Shadow of the Giant. I'm not sure why, but that one really struck me as something I want to see onscreen.
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Yeah, the stuff involving the political and military movement after Ender left is interesting.
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The scene with Ender killing the giant is a pretty good foreshadowing of how Ender will end the last 'game', so if it's removed from the movie, I think you'd have to replace it with some other scene or dialogue indicating he won't play by the rules the other kids play by.
As for a film or films of the Shadow series, I dunno. Even with a strong lead in with a successful Ender's Game adaption, I'm not sure you could make a cohesive single film from it, or expect more than one to be greenlit.
I think PJ's gift of a LoTR trilogy has spoiled us rotten. Hollywood isn't thinking like us just yet.
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I think the scene with the Giant is necessary for Ender. It was a fairly important moment in terms of demonstrating just how far he'll go (knowingly), and if we get to see things from the Teachers' perspectives, it's nice to see how it could scare the heck outta them.
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I think OSC is right. The audiobook is the best way to experience the story. A movie will be done wrong. fact.
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You know, it could work as a tv series on a cable channel, like Sci-Fi or FX. If you showed both Ender and Bean's perspective, there's easily enough material for a season or two, more if you incorporate things from the shadow series. BSG has proven there's an audience for thoughtful science fiction. Sure,the budget won't compare with a movie, but you could still make it work and...
Great, now I want this MORE than a movie. Mr. Card, tell me this isn't feasible so I can stop pining away.
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a mini series could work, but I've never seen an actual show adapted from a literary work. I imagine TV execs might have qualms with a regular TV show where all the plot details are available elsewhere.
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Well, to be fair, that's the case with movies as well. Ender's game is popular, but not DaVinci Code popular, so there're enough non-readers out there to see it for the first time.
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quote:Originally posted by erosomniac: a mini series could work, but I've never seen an actual show adapted from a literary work. I imagine TV execs might have qualms with a regular TV show where all the plot details are available elsewhere.
There's "The Dead Zone" which is in to its 6th season now.
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Yeah, but The Dead Zone has a gimmick that can be used in almost any situation you can think of. Ender's Game doesn't really have that.
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